The Internal Revenue Service is lowering the threshold for taxpayers who wish to qualify for relief from penalties on 2018 federal income tax withholding and estimated tax payments. The agency reduced the threshold for penalties on underpayment to 80 percent of tax liabilities. The IRS says the changes have been made because may taxpayers under-withheld or made estimated payments which were too low because of the changes under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was enacted in December 2017.
The revised waiver computation will be integrated in commercial tax software and reflected in the revision of instructions for Form 2210, Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals, Estates, and Trusts.
Those who have already filed returns for the tax year 2018 may claim relief by filing Form 843, Claim for Refund and Request for Abatement and include the statement “80 percent Waiver of estimated tax penalty” on Line 7. The form cannot be filed electronically.
